The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the

Ramayana. It is an epic narrative of massive proportions, containing more than 100,000 verse
lines and long prose passages. The core story revolves around a dynastic struggle for the
throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan.

The central characters are the Pandavas, the five sons of King Pandu, and their cousins, the
Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra. The Pandavas, namely
Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, are born to Pandu's two wives, Kunti and
Madri, through divine intervention.

The story begins with the blind King Dhritarashtra's decision to pass the throne to his son
Duryodhana, despite the latter's lack of virtues and the legitimate claim of his nephew
Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas. This sows the seeds of conflict between the two
groups of cousins.

To avoid bloodshed, the Pandavas are sent into exile for thirteen years, during which they
undergo numerous adventures and trials. One of the most celebrated episodes is the year the
Pandavas spent in disguise, with Arjuna cross-dressing as a dance teacher and Bhima as a
cook.

After their exile, the Pandavas demand their rightful share of the kingdom, but Duryodhana
refuses. This leads to the great Kurukshetra war, in which various kings and warriors from
across the subcontinent take sides and engage in a cataclysmic battle.

The Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture, forms an integral part of the epic. It is a dialogue
between the warrior Arjuna and his charioteer, Lord Krishna, who is an incarnation of the divine.
Krishna's teachings to the distraught Arjuna on the battlefield cover profound philosophical
concepts such as duty, action, and the nature of the soul.

Here are a few famous shlokas (verses) from the Mahabharata:

1. kuruskshetram idam karma nānyat karma karomyaham |

vidhitsāmṛtenātra yadrāddhāvān na vidhīyate ||
(On this battlefield of Kurukshetra, I shall not perform any other action, O Arjuna. What, after
all, is the use of enjoying an unblemished sovereignty on earth?)

2. dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ |

māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāścaiva kimakurvata sañjaya ||
(On the sacred field of Kurukshetra, the sons of Pandu and the sons of Dhritarashtra, having
assembled together, eager to fight, what did they do, O Sanjaya?)

3. yato dharmastato jayaḥ |

(Where there is righteousness, there is victory.)
The war culminates in the victory of the Pandavas, but at a tremendous cost of life and
destruction. The epic explores the concepts of dharma (duty), artha (purpose), and kama
(desire) in detail, as well as philosophical questions about the nature of existence, action, and
morality.

After the war, the Pandavas ascend to the throne of Hastinapura, and Yudhishthira is crowned
as the king. However, their reign is marked by remorse and sorrow over the loss of life in the
war. Eventually, the Pandavas renounce their kingdom and embark on a final journey towards
the Himalayas, where they meet their ends.

The Mahabharata is not merely an epic tale; it is a vast compendium of human knowledge,
encompassing history, mythology, philosophy, ethics, statecraft, and more. Its influence on
Indian culture and literature cannot be overstated, and it continues to be revered and studied to
this day.